Placidness

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The quality of being calm, serene, and free from disturbance
2. A state characterized by tranquility and an absence of agitation
3. The condition of maintaining a peaceful and undisturbed demeanor

Etymology: Placidness is a plain formation: the adjective "placid" with the suffix "-ness", which turns an adjective into a noun for a quality. "Placid" came into English from French "placide", itself borrowed from Latin "placidus", meaning "gentle" or "calm", a word built on "placere", "to please". The Latin root is a reminder that calm was once framed as something pleasing rather than simply absent of noise. The suffix has a long pedigree of its own. "-ness" descends from Old English "-nes", which was attached to adjectives from the earliest English texts to form abstract nouns, and it is one of the most productive suffixes in the language. Its pairing with "placid" is therefore not a special coinage but an ordinary English extension of a borrowed adjective, giving "placidness" the sense of the state or condition of being placid.

Synonyms: calmness, serenity

Antonyms: agitation, turbulence